Giants savor 21st Japan Series crown

by Rob Smaal (Nov 10, 2009)

Some things just never get old.

Yomiuri manager Tatsunori Hara was tossed in the air by his club on
Saturday evening at Sapporo Dome shortly after a 2-0 victory over the
Nippon-Ham Fighters sealed the Giants' 21st Japan Series title.

"We were able to execute our 'winning pattern' today," Hara said
after the win that gave Yomiuri a 4-2 series triumph. "In the end, we
are No. 1, and it felt great to be tossed in the air during the doage."

It's a feeling Hara should be used to by now. He started off the
season by piloting Japan to its second straight World Baseball Classic
title and finished the 2009 campaign by winning the Central League
pennant and then the Japan Series.

This Giants' victory helps take some of the sting out of their Game
7 loss to the Seibu Lions in last year's Japan Series. For a team of
stars built around power and pitching, the Giants won this title
playing solid team baseball, a sentiment that was echoed by Hara and
several of his players.

With regular-season stalwarts like Hayato Sakamoto and Michihiro
Ogasawara struggling at the plate, less-heralded players like pesky No.
2 hitter Tetsuya Matsumoto, Yoshiyuki Kamei, veteran pinch-hitter
Noriyoshi Omichi and captain Shinnosuke Abe stepped up in the Japan
Series. Matsumoto hit .304 and caused some havoc with his speed when he
got on base and Abe was named Japan Series MVP after his walk-off home
run at Tokyo Dome won a Game 5 thriller for the Giants and his
second-inning RBI double off wall in Sapporo proved to be the
game-winner in the finale.

"It's a great feeling (to be crowned champions), I'll tell you
that, unbelievable," said Giants cleanup-hitter Alex Ramirez, one of
the league's premier power-hitters who led the CL with a .322 average
but hit only .250 with one home run in the Japan Series. "We were in
this same position last year and we couldn't make it and now this is
our time. It was a total team effort and everybody did what they were
supposed to do and, wow, they all came through. Especially (closer
Marc) Kroon--he did an outstanding job for us, both in the Climax
Series and the Japan Series."

Hara called on Kroon to get the final four outs Saturday and he
responded by picking up his third save of the series, but not without a
little drama added. The hard-throwing right-hander also closed out all
three Giants' wins over the Chunichi Dragons in the CL Climax Series,
earning saves in two of them.

"That was amazing," said an emotional Kroon, on getting the final
out in the Japan Series clincher. "It's a pitcher's dream to win a
championship and to strike out the No. 4 batter in the ninth inning
after he's had a great series. Last game, to be on the mound, runners
in scoring position, up by two runs, facing the No. 4 batter--it
doesn't get any better than that."

Kroon gave up a leadoff double in the ninth to former Giant
Tomohiro Nioka and he also walked a batter, but he struck out the
Fighters' No. 3 and 4 hitters, Atsunori Inaba and Shinji Takahashi, to
end it.

The team concept was exemplified Saturday when Hara used six
pitchers to shut out the Hammies on their home turf. Starter Shun Tono
was forced to make an early exit when a line drive hit him on his right
(pitching) hand just 14 pitches into the game. Hara called in lefty
Tetsuya Utsumi, a man he called a "fake samurai" after some early
season struggles. On this night, however, Utsumi stood tall, getting
the win as he worked 4 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Kiyoshi Toyoda then tossed two-thirds of an inning before Hara turned
to that familiar "winning pattern" he referred to--Tetsuya Yamaguchi
and Daisuke Ochi setting the table for Kroon.

It was far from a dominant performance by the Giants' pitching
staff--the Fighters out-hit Yomiuri 11-6 on the night and Nippon-Ham
had runners in scoring position in six out of nine innings--but they
hung tough and got the job done.

Fighters left-hander Masaru Takeda was the hard-luck loser
Saturday. Takeda allowed just one earned run over 7 2/3 innings when he
gave up doubles to Yoshiyuki Kamei and Abe in the second inning, two of
the six hits he allowed all night.

Inaba had a Game 6 he'd just as soon forget. He was 1-for-5 with a
single and three strikeouts Saturday, including a huge K with one out
and two men on in the bottom of the ninth, and it was his error in
right field in the sixth that allowed the Giants to score their second
run. For the series, Inaba--the 2006 Japan Series MVP and a .300 hitter
with 17 HRs and 85 RBIs this season--hit .208 and the big guy was
0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.